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Basketball n' stuffWed, 25 Mar 2015 11:16:32 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1NBA MVP race too tight to callhttp://ballineurope.com/nba-mvp-race-too-tight-to-call/
http://ballineurope.com/nba-mvp-race-too-tight-to-call/#commentsWed, 25 Mar 2015 11:13:23 +0000http://ballineurope.com/?p=22631One of the many fascinating aspects of the 2014-15 NBA season has been the ascension of a number of stars to the league’s true upper echelons. Cornering a market LeBron James has cast quite a shadow over the NBA MVP race in recent years, winning four of the last six awards. The only other players […]]]>

One of the many fascinating aspects of the 2014-15 NBA season has been the ascension of a number of stars to the league’s true upper echelons.

Cornering a market
LeBron James has cast quite a shadow over the NBA MVP race in recent years, winning four of the last six awards. The only other players to win the award since 2008 are Derrick Rose and Kevin Durant, who have both struggled to make an impact this year through multiple injuries.

Far from allowing LeBron a clear run at his fifth Maurice Podoloff Trophy, Durant’s absence from this year’s race has given a current teammate and a former teammate the opportunity to shine brighter.

And LeBron’s own moves have weakened his candidacy. He left a strong Miami team to start a new project in Cleveland, and the first year of such projects rarely goes smoothly.

His team has improved as the season has gone on, and the Cavaliers are starting to look imperious as LeBron chases a fifth straight NBA Finals appearance. But there were struggles at the start of the season, and the upswing has only come since LeBron took two weeks off in January.
Whatever your opinion is James, there’s certainly been a lot of noise regarding his mid-season absence, with plenty of voters within the media saying that what amounts to a “player of the season” award can’t be given to a guy who gives himself a two-week vacation during the season, even if he has once again looked like the world’s best player since his return.

Candidates
Who else is in the running? The easy answers are often to be found by a quick look through the league’s statistical leaders, as well as a browse of the standings, identifying the integral players on the league’s strongest squads.
James Harden currently sits second in the scoring ranks, averaging a full point per game more than third-placed LeBron. He has been an absolute machine on a Houston squad that has won two-thirds of its games so far, and his lack of support (Dwight Howard’s injury woes in particular) adds weight to his case.

Harden has spent most of the season atop the scoring rankings, but he has recently been usurped by a rampaging Russell Westbrook. At the start of the season, with Durant expected to be out for a few weeks, there were some giddy expectations for a surge from Westbrook, freed from the supposed shackles of sometimes having to defer to his incredibly talented teammate.

Unfortunately, Westbrook suffered a fracture to his hand in the second game of the season, missing a month of action. But in recent weeks, we have really started to see the Westbrook that pundits were anticipating at the start of the year as he has reeled off a string of mesmerizing box-scores, including a run of consecutive triple-doubles.

Sharp shooters
Three of the league’s current top five scorers can be found in the middle of the Western Conference. DeMarcus Cousins’ nightly averages of 24 and 12 might force him into the conversation if his team was able to contend for a playoff berth, but the race for eighth is wild in the West, and Sacramento is too far back.

Instead it is left for rising superstar Anthony Davis to go toe-to-toe with Westbrook. Whichever teams loses out in the playoff race, it will likely damage the relevant star’s case too much for him to be a viable MVP winner.

Davis has had his fair share of injury issues during the season too, but he has displayed his incredible talents when he has been on the court. As well as nearly 25 points per game, he adds almost three blocks every night, leading the league in that category.
Westbrook adds nearly nine assists per game to his league-high scoring average, ranking fourth in a category which LA Clippers point guard Chris Paul leads. Paul is the only player averaging more than 10 dishes per game, though it is marginal – he has only 15 more assists over 71 games than Washington’s young star John Wall.

Paul has done a masterful job of leading the Clippers while Blake Griffin has been sidelined, but his MVP campaign lacks the eye-catching individual play of Harden, Davis or Westbrook, and his team won’t have a top seed.
On the other hand, Atlanta has stamped their authority all over the Eastern Conference, but it is hard to identify a true MVP candidate within the Hawks squad. Maybe if Atlanta has a strong playoffs and repeats its showing next year, Al Horford or Jeff Teague will be in the running.

Front runner?
But by this point, fans across Warrior Nation must be shouting at their screens – where’s Stephen Curry in this discussion? Golden State has had the league’s best record throughout the season, and although Klay Thompson has risen to an elite level, there’s no doubting that Curry is the heartbeat of the team. He is one of the league’s elite shooters and ball-handlers, and he will provide Golden State with a deadly weapon in the postseason.
A strong final month could sway the final vote. If Curry’s squad cruises dominantly to the top overall seed, it may be enough, but Houston is making a run at finishing third, which would be a very impressive result and may tip the balance Harden’s way. Westbrook and Davis have the potential to put together a run of outstanding performances and lift their squads into the postseason. A grandstand finish awaits as we enter the home straight of the MVP race.

]]>http://ballineurope.com/nba-mvp-race-too-tight-to-call/feed/1We really don’t need another civil warhttp://ballineurope.com/we-really-dont-need-another-civil-war/
http://ballineurope.com/we-really-dont-need-another-civil-war/#commentsWed, 18 Mar 2015 16:31:41 +0000http://ballineurope.com/?p=22629The opening salvos have been fired with little dignity. It’s not going to get prettier. Everyone needs to grow up. That’s what Emmet Ryan thinks of the latest FIBA vs ULEB spat. Didn’t we already go through this around the turn of the century? ULEB and FIBA Europe fought for control of Europe’s top competition […]]]>

The opening salvos have been fired with little dignity. It’s not going to get prettier. Everyone needs to grow up. That’s what Emmet Ryan thinks of the latest FIBA vs ULEB spat.

Didn’t we already go through this around the turn of the century? ULEB and FIBA Europe fought for control of Europe’s top competition and there was a clear and resounding winner. Panathinaikos, CSKA Moscow, and Maccabi Tel Aviv all stayed with FIBA’s Suproleague initially but after a season everyone rowed in with ULEB. The split lasted a season, the winner was clear.

From there what we know as Euroleague and Eurocup have blossomed, evolving into their current forms with more games than ever between the elites of Europe. FIBA retains control of Eurochallenge, a third tier competition which struggles from its lack of direct ties to the two superior competitions. Now FIBA wants to change all that by taking command from the top.

What we really don’t need in European hoops right now is another war. Euroleague’s admission/qualification structure is finally sorting itself into something reasonable. Eurocup has benefitted in the trickle down sense as that competition’s benefits from the boost of clubs that exit after Euroleague’s regular season. Eurochallenge, well it remains on an island.

FIBA’s approach so far has been to declare, at the bottom of press releases, what they are doing and assume everyone will row in. If you changed that B to a second F they might have a point but FIBA’s control of the sport is not on the same planet as it’s equivalent in soccer. If FIBA wants a war, it can be sure Euroleague will come with superior firepower than it had 15 years ago. It’s hard to see Maccabi, Panathinaikos, and especially CSKA jumping ship after the changes that have been made to Europe’s top club competition in recent years.

The Adriatic League clubs have also been essentially alienated by FIBA’s announcement, again at the end of a press release, by the governing body saying it won’t approve the league after this season. Crvena Zvezda, Partizan, Cibona, Cedevita, and the rest aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to return to conventional national leagues. The VTB League clubs must also be looking on at what is happening with the ABA Liga and thinking “nope, we like to run our own show”.

To really get to the heart of this current dispute we have to go all the way back to FIBA’s plans to restructure the sport at an international level. The adjustment in calendar makes a great deal of sense in terms of marketing the sport. International basketball attracts a lot of eyeballs, particularly compared to the club game, but it’s only really on the radar for most fans for two to three weeks of the year. FIBA, as the body that controls that part of the market, naturally wants to get a whole lot more out of its asset.

FIBA’s approach was to essentially declare that it would start organising qualifiers along the same lines as UEFA/FIFA, mid-season with scheduled breaks from club action to free up players. This was met with a collective “whut?” from the NBA regarding Team USA. The reaction from Euroleague and clubs around Europe was more of a loud “Ahem, do you mind?”

Technically speaking, Euroleague/ULEB and FIBA have been cooperating since 2005. The past few months have shown these are two organisations who aren’t even frenemies. Any moves forward in European basketball have to be collaborative.

If we see a repeat of the 2000/01 season, where two champions of Europe were crowned, we won’t be laughed at by observers across the Atlantic. We will be ignored.

For all of Euroleague’s strength in this fight, and it holds a powerful hand, the value of the international game as a marketing tool can’t be ignored. Mid-season breaks may not be ideal in terms of the calendar but if gaining eyeballs during the year for the sport on this continent is an upside, it’s at least worth trying to find a way to make it work.

Right now FIBA is making a power play. It wants to have a big say in whatever the final shake-up is by acting right now like it has the only say. That may be an aggressive stance but it’s not going to win any friends by burying the lede in press releases and acting unilaterally.

Turgay Demirel and Jordi Bertomeu are proud men with big roles. Neither wants to yield and right now the former’s body is the one taking all the action. Bertomeu is playing this out patiently, at least in public. Rest assured the brain trust in Barcelona has counter measures planned. We are months, if not weeks, away from civil war.

There is no way, absolutely none, that such a conflict benefits European basketball. A power struggle will only weaken the overall product even if one body wins out clearly. Whatever FIBA or Euroleague feel should happen, whatever these bodies believe is right, they have to find a common ground. There needs to be respect for each position and real cooperation.

In short, stop shouting and start talking.

]]>http://ballineurope.com/we-really-dont-need-another-civil-war/feed/1NCAA March Madness Odds Updatehttp://ballineurope.com/ncaa-march-madness-odds-update/
http://ballineurope.com/ncaa-march-madness-odds-update/#commentsTue, 17 Mar 2015 18:27:59 +0000http://ballineurope.com/?p=22627The NCAA March Madness is almost here. On Tuesday, the 68 best teams in the nation will begin to play through the National Tournament. All these programs are vying to become the last one standing in this brutal single-elimination tournament and a quick look at the odds will reveal that, no surprise, the Kentucky Wildcats […]]]>

The NCAA March Madness is almost here. On Tuesday, the 68 best teams in the nation will begin to play through the National Tournament. All these programs are vying to become the last one standing in this brutal single-elimination tournament and a quick look at the odds will reveal that, no surprise, the Kentucky Wildcats are the odds-on favorites to take home the title.

With a deep roster, a top caliber coach, and a choking defense, the Wildcats ran the table and are the story of the tournament before it’s even started. They are in line to become the first team ever to go 40-0 in college basketball history, and were so far ahead of the rest of the field that the NCAA declared Kentucky the first overall seed in the tournament before they’d even played in the SEC championship game.

Kentucky, however, isn’t the only powerhouse in the field. Duke and Virginia (No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively) are quality teams with depth that could take down the Wildcats. Despite their respective losses in the ACC Tournament, the Blue Devils and the Cavs still carry the potential to eliminate Kentucky, though the soonest either team could see the Wildcats would be in the national championship.

Duke and Virginia are priced +1,000 and +900 to win the National Championship Game, respectively. Other teams that can also make a run in the tourney are Arizona, Wisconsin, and Villanova. The current TopBet.eu NCAA betting line has a rundown of these teams’ odds to win it all.

Duke is banking on its high-powered offense that is currently ranked third overall with 81.1 points per game to make a deep run in the Big Dance. Virginia, on the other hand, owns a defense that’s ranked even better than that of Kentucky. Cavs opponents are scoring just 50.8 points per game.

]]>http://ballineurope.com/ncaa-march-madness-odds-update/feed/1Lesser spotted buzzer beaters: Half court shot wins a championshiphttp://ballineurope.com/lesser-spotted-buzzer-beaters-half-court-shot-wins-a-championship/
http://ballineurope.com/lesser-spotted-buzzer-beaters-half-court-shot-wins-a-championship/#commentsWed, 11 Mar 2015 16:48:10 +0000http://ballineurope.com/?p=22623Time was running out in the Irish Colleges Division 1 final. IT Carlow and NUI Galway were all square at 72-72 and overtime loomed until Jimmy Ward said OH HELL NO and unleashed this monster from the halfway line to take the title for Carlow. Check it out.

]]>http://ballineurope.com/lesser-spotted-buzzer-beaters-half-court-shot-wins-a-championship/feed/1LIVE: Watch the Big East Tournament on BallinEuropehttp://ballineurope.com/watch-the-big-east-tournament-live/
http://ballineurope.com/watch-the-big-east-tournament-live/#commentsWed, 11 Mar 2015 15:50:19 +0000http://ballineurope.com/?p=22620BallinEurope has partnered with Eversport to broadcast the Big East conference tournament LIVE and free throughout championship week. Just press play to catch some of the best NCAA basketball action there is. Press play on the player to catch all the action. The games start later tonight. Here’s the schedule, all times in EST, CET […]]]>

BallinEurope has partnered with Eversport to broadcast the Big East conference tournament LIVE and free throughout championship week. Just press play to catch some of the best NCAA basketball action there is.

Press play on the player to catch all the action. The games start later tonight. Here’s the schedule, all times in EST, CET in brackets.

Update: Due to technical issues we won’t have Wednesday night’s games but we have been assured we will have all games from Thursday through Saturday.

]]>http://ballineurope.com/watch-the-big-east-tournament-live/feed/0Nando de Colo scores 33 as CSKA beat Krasny Oktyabrhttp://ballineurope.com/nando-de-colo-scores-33-as-cska-beat-krasny-oktyabr/
http://ballineurope.com/nando-de-colo-scores-33-as-cska-beat-krasny-oktyabr/#commentsTue, 10 Mar 2015 10:26:48 +0000http://ballineurope.com/?p=22619There was no Andrei Kirilenko for CSKA Moscow last night but that didn’t matter against Krasny Oktyabr as Nando de Colo scored 33 points along with grabbing 6 boards and dishing 5 assists in an 88-101 road win.

CSKA sit at the top of the VTB League at 21-3.

]]>http://ballineurope.com/nando-de-colo-scores-33-as-cska-beat-krasny-oktyabr/feed/0Olympiacos roll past Rethymnohttp://ballineurope.com/olympiacos-roll-past-rethymno/
http://ballineurope.com/olympiacos-roll-past-rethymno/#commentsTue, 10 Mar 2015 10:18:18 +0000http://ballineurope.com/?p=22618Olympiacos moved to 18-1 for the regular season in the A1 Ethniki as they cruised past AGO Rethymno on Monday. Check out the highlights.

]]>http://ballineurope.com/olympiacos-roll-past-rethymno/feed/0Giannis sets a new career highhttp://ballineurope.com/giannis-sets-a-new-career-high/
http://ballineurope.com/giannis-sets-a-new-career-high/#commentsTue, 10 Mar 2015 10:14:27 +0000http://ballineurope.com/?p=22617The Bucks fell to the Pelicans last night but Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo had a career night as the Greek Freak scored 29 points.

]]>http://ballineurope.com/giannis-sets-a-new-career-high/feed/0Watch Danilo drop a sweet dimehttp://ballineurope.com/watch-danilo-drop-a-sweet-dime/
http://ballineurope.com/watch-danilo-drop-a-sweet-dime/#commentsTue, 10 Mar 2015 10:10:59 +0000http://ballineurope.com/?p=22616The Nuggets routed the Knicks last night and Italy’s Danilo Gallinari delivered the play of the game with this assist.

]]>http://ballineurope.com/watch-danilo-drop-a-sweet-dime/feed/0Sportando launches a new basketball management gamehttp://ballineurope.com/sportando-launches-a-new-basketball-management-game/
http://ballineurope.com/sportando-launches-a-new-basketball-management-game/#commentsTue, 10 Mar 2015 06:00:06 +0000http://ballineurope.com/?p=22614Our buddies over at Sportando have launched a new basketball management simulator and it’s free. We checked in with their editor, Emiliano Carchia, to ask him all about the project. BallinEurope: Why did Sportando decide to produce this game? How long did it take? Emiliano Carchia: We decided to launch the video game after we […]]]>

Our buddies over at Sportando have launched a new basketball management simulator and it’s free. We checked in with their editor, Emiliano Carchia, to ask him all about the project.

BallinEurope: Why did Sportando decide to produce this game? How long did it take?
Emiliano Carchia: We decided to launch the video game after we reached an agreement with the guys who made PC Fantacanestro over the last few years. This season it took a lot to launch the video game. Usually they had the game available for November-December but we had to wait till March.
The promise is that next season we’ll try to make a better game releasing it early in the season.

BiE: The game is freeware, is there any way such as advertising, that you will be able to generate revenue from it?
EC: The game is completely for free. It is at his first version with the name of Sportando Basket Manager. There are a couple of banners in the game but our goal is to find a naming sponsor. That would be great for us and to develop a better game.

BiE: Previous iterations of basketball management games haven’t been received warmly by fans, were you looking to fix this?
EC: Yes, the goal is to have people happy with the game. We know the way to have the most perfect game is very long but we are trying and we’ll try.

BiE: In terms of licensing, are there any leagues/player names that are real in the game?
No, all the names are fakes. No real licenses. We know PC Fantacanestro used the real names of the players and the fact that we don’t have them generated unhappiness among the users. But having real names is not too easy so we went with not real names.